THE Open Spaces Society has called for local authorities to signpost pathways in Purbeck, as stipulated in the Countryside Act.

Supported by the walking charity, The Ramblers, the society - the country's oldest national conservation body - is calling for better signage.

Open Spaces Purbeck district correspondent Ralph Homes said: "Signposts are important because they give people the confidence to use and enjoy public paths, which are public rights of way and highways in law.

"Although paths are marked on Ordnance Survey maps, many people are deterred from using them if there is no indication that a route is a public path. "In any case, paths can be closed or moved making the maps out of date.

"Without a signpost, a path can be a well-kept secret.

"That is why we pressed for the inclusion of the signposting duty in the Countryside Act and why we are dismayed to find that there are still many missing signposts."

The society has pointed out the missing signpost on Wareham footpath 10 as an example.

Ralph said: "In the main most paths in Dorset are well signed when they leave public roads, but it is important that the county council ensures every path is well signed.

"I know of paths that are rarely used because of the absence of signage.

"In this fiftieth anniversary year of the Countryside Act 1968 which gave highway authorities a duty to signpost paths, we want to see Dorset and other councils make a real effort to ensure all their paths are marked."

The Ramblers' Big Pathwatch survey in 2015 revealed that around 9,000 signposts were reported as missing where paths left roads in England and Wales.

An Open Spaces Society spokesman explained: "Much of our work is about the preservation and creation of public paths – footpaths was included in the society’s title after it amalgamated with the National Footpaths Preservation Society in 1899.

"Before the introduction of official maps of public paths in the early 1950s, the public did not know where the paths were. We helped to campaign for paths to be shown on Ordnance Survey maps."